If the US Navy can fall victim to such a scam, our government must immediately investigate if our Navy faced a similar fate. says Steven Sim.
On 25 November, I debated the Defence Ministry’s 2014 budget in the Parliament. One of the key issues I highlighted was the link between Fat Leonard and our Royal Malaysian Navy.
For the uninitiated, Fat Leonard or his real name, Glenn Francis Leonard, is currently facing charges in the USA on a corruption scandal involving senior US Navy officers. His company Glenn Defence Marine Asia (GDMA) was awarded about US$200m (RM640m) worth of Navy contracts since 2011 and Fat Leonard was suspected of bribing senior Navy officers to win the contracts.
Upon investigation, I discovered that the Royal Malaysian Navy is also a client of GDMA. If the US Navy can fall victim to such scam, our government must immediately investigate if our Navy faced a similar fate. This is not merely a simple case of corruption, it also potentially involves breaches in military activities and secrets as was revealed in the case of the US Navy.
All dealings with GDMA must be suspended pending a full and thorough investigation.
Steven Sim is the Member of Parliament for Bukit Mertajam
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